It started with Owen Farrell asking George Ford for help with his French homework so the pair of rugby-mad schoolboys would be let out to kick a ball around.

That was the beginning of a childhood journey that resumes on Saturday when the Lancashire-born duo start alongside one another at Twickenham.

Ford has been given his first England start at fly-half and Farrell, the regular incumbent at No 10, has been moved to inside centre. It is the first time the partnership has been tested at senior level, although it is a combination that lit up the junior England ranks between the Under 16 and Under 20 age groups.

Bath's George Ford (right) will start at fly half against Samoa with Owen Farrell moving to inside centre

Ford (left) watches on in training as Farrell lines up a shot at goal at the team's Pennyhill Park base

England skills coach Mike Catt (left) has a word with the team's new 10-12 pairing ahead of Saturday's Test

Farrell (right) and Ford played for England in the final of the Junior World Cup in 2011

The old pals' act

2008

England Under 16 teammates. Farrell captained the side, Ford had just turned 15.

2008-09

England Under 18 team-mates. Toured Argentina together in 2008. Toured South Africa in 2009. Finished the season unbeaten.

2011

England Under 20 teammates. Won U20 Six Nations Grand Slam. Lost 33-22 to New Zealand in U20 World Cup final.

2014

Ford made senior debut off the bench at Twickenham as a replacement for Farrell against Wales in the Six Nations.

After England’s below-par performances against New Zealand and South Africa, the promotion of Ford to the starting XV is one of six changes for the line-up that will face Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday night. The former neighbours will attempt to kick start England’s campaign and potentially solve the long-term problem in their country’s midfield.

‘We went to the same school and lived literally 10 metres away from each other,’ said Ford. ‘All we wanted to do was go outside and kick a ball around. Owen used to come home and be like, “C’mon mate, we need to go outside and have a mess around, do a bit of my homework for me”. I’d start doing a bit of his French or whatever it was, then we could go out and kick a ball around. Stupid of me when you look back on it.’

Their mutual understanding should hopefully lead to a seamless transition in the back-line.

The inclusion of two natural kickers will help improve the territorial game and should also make England’s gameplan more difficult for the opposition to break down.

Billy Vunipola has been left out of Stuart Lancaster's match day squad ahead of England's clash with Samoa

James Haskell has been rewarded for his form for Wasps this season as he pushes for a back row place

Gloucester's Billy Twelvetrees (left) and Saracens' Richard Wigglesworth will get their chance on Saturday

Ford has been given goal-kicking responsibilities and Lancaster has told the 21-year-old to go out and ‘be the boss’. It is a rare chance for the Bath No 10 to make a claim for the starting jersey, despite numerous calls for his selection since he was named IRB Junior World Player of the Year in 2011 — the first Englishman to receive a global award since Jonny Wilkinson.

‘I am massively proud to start my first game for England at Twickenham, having played four times off the bench now,’ said Ford. ‘I have not got a great amount of game time but I am really looking forward to it. It’s exciting. As a 10 it is in your job title to organise and lead people around the park and that is what I will try to do.’

Ford was also the designated kicker at age-group level, when he often found himself the target of practical jokes by his team-mates — such as having the contents of his room perched on the flat roof of a team hotel and replaced by 200 cups of Ribena before the 2011 Junior World Cup final.

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After losing to New Zealand in the showcase match of the Under 20s game, Ford moved from Leicester to Bath, where he now plays under the guidance of his father, Mike. Farrell has also experienced life working under his father, Andy, who is England’s defence coach.

It is a world of coincidences for the former rugby league players, who used to represent rival clubs Wigan St Patricks and Waterhead Boys and also went to St George’s School in Harpenden together when their fathers moved south to coach at Saracens.

‘Having dads who played and coached in the professional game could only benefit us,’ said Ford. ‘To have someone you constantly talk to about the game — Mum gets sick of it — is brilliant.’

On Saturday Ford will start alongside Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs, who was his team-mate at Welford Road when he got his first break into senior rugby.

The new half-back combination provides two of those new faces from the side that lost to South Africa. Bath hooker Rob Webber has pushed Dylan Hartley to the bench, while Ben Morgan and James Haskell have displaced Billy Vunipola and Tom Wood in the back row. There are new combinations all round, but none will catch the imagination quite like the two Lancashire lads.